Ringworld (Ringworld, #1)

I started this book expecting an amazing feel — it won the Hugo AND Nebula awards, after all.Too regretful it was a hot mess.The smile is because the koran was lighthearted.What to say of Niven ‘s prose, other than that it is atrocious ? The dialogue is stilted ; frequently it is impossible to tell what the characters are talking about because their references are unclear or newfangled information necessary to understand WTF is going on passes through the cardboard cutout/protagonist ‘s head merely after the page-l

Too bad it was a hot mess.

The smile is because the book was lighthearted.

What to say of Niven’s prose, other than that it is horrible? The dialog is stilted; often it is impossible to tell what the characters are talking about because their references are unclear or new information necessary to understand WTF is going on passes through the cardboard cutout/protagonist’s head only after the page-long conversation has ended. The narrative is equally confusing; at times it was impossible to visualize what was happening (e.g. with the shadow square wire) or what anything looked like.

The protagonists have nonexistent emotional ranges, and when they do emote (each always in the same way, since all four are completely one-dimensional), the reader is told through adverbs and adjectives exactly how they feel (how many times is “fear” used in reference to Nessus, for example), eliminating any sense of complexity. Furthermore, there is no wonder. Everything is prosaic, which is a problem when the discovery and exploration of the unknown is the focal point of the book. When they finally see Ringworld, we are told that Louis will “remember this” (99), but it rings completely hollow since no visual impression or sense of awe is communicated in any depth. In almost every case, their response to the titanic and dangerous Ringworld is best described as dull surprise.

“OMG!!! An enormous artificial structure 600,000,000 miles long built by an unknown race a really long time ago!!!”

Characterization is not much better. Louis Wu is two hundred years old, which has no consequence or manifestation at all other than internal reflections on how he is two hundred years old. We have Nessus, a two-headed alien, who changes from an intelligent coward with instances of bravery to an intelligent coward with instances of bravery who speaks an additional language. Speaker-To-Animals, a member of the feline Kzin species, experiences a similarly fundamental character change. All of them have no motivation whatsoever for anything besides a generic racial survival motive (supernovae will wipe everything out unless they can develop fast enough space flight) that is never explored in any detail or complicated in any way.

The exception is perhaps Teela Brown, a young, naïve, lucky girl, whose development is obvious because Louis explicitly describes the inane ways in which she has changed. Why not SHOW us? Not that her character changed in a good way: she went from being oblivious eye candy for Louis to less-oblivious eye candy for another man. The only other woman, by the way, is a near-bald prostitute with the unfortunate name of Halrloprillalar Hotrufan. She serves essentially no plot function, but does often “touch Louis here and there,” inducing the vaguest orgasms I have ever encountered in literature. As an illustration of gender in Ringworld, I will leave you with this gem:

“He got very uncomfortable and stopped sleeping with me. He thinks you own me, Louis.”
“Slavery?”
“Slavery for women, I think. You’ll tell him you don’t own me, won’t you?
Louis felt pain in his throat. “It might save explanations if I just sold you to him. If that’s what you want.”
“You’re right. And it is.”

Niven’s Enlightened Woman

The plot is not much better. Nessus the puppeteer rounds up three other crewmates haphazardly in order to explore Ringworld for unclear reasons. Then they crash-land on the surface. The rest of the novel is spent on Ringworld, a place so big and empty that it is dreadfully boring. The four leads fly around. Stuff happens that does not move the plot forward at all, or, worse, is discernibly contrived so that the plot does advance in the most mundane way possible without any real character growth or revelation. Nothing is explored in any depth and there is no payoff whatsoever. The Ringworld is ultimately irrelevant in every way, [ except for Teela, who saunters off with her Conan the Barbarian knockoff boytoy in ordain to ‘grow as a person ‘ or something ( obscure spoiler ) [ on which culture has regressed to hunter-gatherer groups ( hide plunderer )in se. Niven’s genius lies in executing marvelous premises in the most mind-numbingly dull and intellectually sterile ways possible.

Niven touches upon some interesting ideas — birth control, homogenization of cultures with increased contact, FTL travel, introduction of non-native species to a new environment (the Slaver sunflowers), breakdown of civilization — but does nothing more with them. Most of the actual discussions about these issues take place in half a page and never resurface. There is essentially no world-building. Various alien races exist and have different dispositions; they are advanced. That is all we get. On Ringworld, we learn that Ringworld manages to avoid providing answers to any of these questions, and more! [ a mold — yes — has spread over the structure and broken down all the technology, causing social crash. How do the people live ? Is there a historical or cultural bequest ? What are the detailed religious beliefs ? How do the inhabitants answer to the infinite horizons ? Have they noticed the enormous storm or the Ring material poking through ? What is their invention of time ? Are there any advance remnants ? What was the pre-fall culture like ? manages to avoid providing answers to any of these questions, and more ! ( hide plunderer )

Visual representation of the bountiful depth of Ringworld

Perhaps the most egregious flaw of the novel is the malignant plot tumor of Teela’s luck. By the end, the reader learns that [ Teela was bred for “ luck ” and her luck drove the entire plot, as Teela was meant to come to and stay on Ringworld ( hide spoiler )

Second, what an absolutely garbage idea. Fate would have been more plausible because at least it is not empirically falsifiable. Niven studied math, so he should know better, and indeed he does: At one point Louis states, “All he’s really found is the far end of a normal curve. Probability theory says you exist…Lady Luck has no memory at all” (126). Exactly. So why do technologically-advanced, intelligent characters maintain to the end of the book that Teela is extraordinarily lucky and that past INDEPENDENT events were somehow predictable because she has ALWAYS been lucky? They all know it is mathematically impossible, and no elaboration or explanation is ever given.

Seriously, what am I missing?

This book was just BAD. Niven does get props for the cool idea of the Ringworld and the few mentions of its history [ including some kind of ruling caste in floating castles ( hide spoiler ) I started this bible expecting an amazing experience — it won the Hugo AND Nebula awards, after all.Too bad it was a hot mess.The smile is because the ledger was lighthearted.What to say of Niven ‘s prose, other than that it is atrocious ? The dialogue is stilted ; often it is impossible to tell what the characters are talking about because their references are ill-defined or new information necessary to understand WTF is going on passes through the cardboard cutout/protagonist ‘s head only after the page-long conversation has ended. The narrative is equally jumble ; at times it was impossible to visualize what was happening ( e.g. with the shadow square wire ) or what anything looked like.The protagonists have nonexistent emotional ranges, and when they do emote ( each always in the like way, since all four are completely linear ), the reader is told through adverbs and adjectives precisely how they feel ( how many times is “ fear ” used in reference to Nessus, for example ), eliminating any sense of complexity. furthermore, there is no wonder. Everything is pedestrian, which is a problem when the discovery and exploration of the unknown is the focal point of the book. When they last see Ringworld, we are told that Louis will “ remember this ” ( 99 ), but it rings wholly hollow since no ocular impression or sense of awe is communicated in any depth. In about every shell, their response to the titanic and dangerous Ringworld is adept described as dull surprise.Characterization is not much better. Louis Wu is two hundred years old, which has no consequence or expression at all other than home reflections on how he is two hundred years old. We have Nessus, a two-headed alien, who changes from an intelligent coward with instances of fearlessness to an intelligent coward with instances of fearlessness who speaks an extra speech. Speaker-To-Animals, a member of the feline Kzin species, experiences a similarly fundamental character deepen. All of them have no motivation any for anything besides a generic racial survival motif ( supernova will wipe everything out unless they can develop fast enough space fledge ) that is never explored in any detail or complicated in any way.The exception is possibly Teela Brown, a young, naïve, lucky female child, whose development is obvious because. Why not SHOW us ? not that her character changed in a good way : she went from being oblivious eye candy for Louis to less-oblivious center candy for another man. The only other woman, by the way, is a near-bald prostitute with the unfortunate name of Halrloprillalar Hotrufan. She serves basically no plot function, but does frequently “ contact Louisand, ” inducing the vaguest orgasm I have ever encountered in literature. As an example of sex in, I will leave you with this gem : ” He got very uncomfortable and stopped sleeping with me. He thinks you own me, Louis. ” ” Slavery ? “ “ Slavery for women, I think. You ‘ll tell him you do n’t own me, wo n’t you ? Louis felt pain in his throat. “ It might save explanations if I equitable sold you to him. If that ‘s what you want. “ “ You ‘re right. And it is. “ Niven ‘s Enlightened WomanThe plot is not a lot better. Nessus the puppeteer rounds up three other crewmates haphazard in ordain to explore Ringworld for ill-defined reasons. then they crash-land on the surface. The pillow of the fresh is spent on Ringworld, a home so adult and empty that it is dismally drilling. The four leads fly round. Stuff happens that does not move the plot ahead at all, or, worse, is discernibly contrived so that the plot does advance in the most mundane way possible without any veridical character growth or disclosure. nothing is explored in any depth and there is no wages any. The Ringworld is ultimately irrelevant in every way, ( view pamperer ). The books ends with a whimper and little solution. What makes this then absurd is that an enormous terraformed Ringworld ( view spoiler ) should be interesting. Niven ‘s brilliance lies in executing fantastic premises in the most mind-numbingly dull and intellectually sterile ways possible.Niven touches upon some interesting ideas — birth control, homogenization of cultures with increase contact, FTL travel, introduction of non-native species to a modern environment ( the Slaver sunflowers ), breakdown of civilization — but does nothing more with them. Most of the actual discussions about these issues take station in half a page and never resurface. There is basically no world-building. assorted alien races exist and have different dispositions ; they are advance. That is all we get. On Ringworld, we learn that ( view plunderer ) For a novel about “ big ideas, ” there was a disappointing dearth of them.Visual representation of the bountiful depth ofPerhaps the most crying flaw of the novel is the malignant plot tumor of Teela ‘s luck. By the end, the proofreader learns that ( view spoiler ). First, how unnecessary. How more meaningful would her journey have been if she had started young and innocent and ended with her naïveté eliminated because she had matured into a real woman with real means ? rather, any significance and growth is ripped away from us as Niven piles on the pseudo-fatalistic nonsense for pages and pages WITH NO PAYOFF.Second, what an absolutely garbage estimate. Fate would have been more plausible because at least it is not empirically confirmable. Niven studied mathematics, so he should know better, and indeed he does : At one point Louis states, “ All he ‘s very found is the army for the liberation of rwanda conclusion of a normal curvature. Probability theory says you exist … Lady Luck has no memory at all ” ( 126 ). precisely. so why do technologically-advanced, healthy characters maintain to the end of the book that Teela is inordinately lucky and that past INDEPENDENT events were somehow predictable because she has constantly been lucky ? They all know it is mathematically impossible, and no elaboration or explanation is ever given.Seriously, what am I missing ? This book was merely. Niven does get props for the cool idea of the Ringworld and the few mentions of its history ( view spoiler ), but nothing else. I can not imagine why this was well-received ; I can alone assume the reviewers like the mind and ignored everything else. Just read the plot summary and be proud that you have experienced everything this book has to offer. [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] > [ “ bromine ” ] > [ “ red brigades ” ] >